Notes

At 5:12 am on April 18, 1906, a major earthquake struck San Francisco and northern California. As buildings collapsed from the shaking, ruptured gas lines ignited fires that spread across the city and burned out of control for several days. With water mains out of service, the Presidio Artillery Corps attempted to contain the inferno by dynamiting blocks of buildings to create firebreaks.More than three-quarters of the city lay in ruins, including almost all of the downtown core.Contemporary accounts reported that 498 people lost their lives, though modern estimates put the number in the several thousandsMore than half the city's population of 400,000 were left homeless.Refugees settled temporarily in makeshift tent villages in Golden Gate Park, the Presidio, on the beaches, and elsewhere. Many fled permanently to the East Bay.over 225,000 of the city’s 400,000 residents were homeless.
fires destroyed about 28,000 buildings and 500 blocks – ¼ of San Francisco.
in the first 19 months, San Francisco spent $90 million on reconstruction.
fires burned for three days and three nights; some were as hot as 2,700°F. The fires were more catastrophic than the earthquake itself.
the Navy contributed to putting out fires by running water lines and providing water to the city’s fire department for their steam engines.
a San Franciscan cooking breakfast on a stove whose chimney was damaged during the quake, started the 24-hour-long "ham and eggs fire" which destroyed a 30-block area, including parts of City Hall and Market Street.
San Francisco received approximately $9 million in relief from individuals, cities, states, the federal government, and other countries.
city officials attempted to permanently relocate Chinatown in order to seize its valuable real estate, but failed.
the San Francisco Red Cross and Relief Corporation and the Army were the primary relief administrators.
many countries helped in the relief effort. China and Japan made significant donations of about $250,000 each, but racial prejudice kept these funds from reaching Chinese– and Japanese–American quake victims.
the Presidio and Golden Gate Park hosted the two largest refugee sites.
the Army – which ran 21 official refugee camps – distributed food, clothing, and other necessities to quake victims.
discrimination forced Chinese–American refugees to be shuffled from camp to camp: first from Van Ness to the Presidio, and then to Fort Point.
the grand jury committee found that some insurance companies had used doctored photographs to coerce policy holders into settling claims at a discount.
shack-type cottages were built six months after to replace tents in the refugee camps at the Presidio, Fort Point, Golden Gate Park, and elsewhere.